1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to electrical cooking appliances and specifically to an electrical appliance that forms and quickly cooks an egg mixture into an omelet, completely containing any added ingredients within the cooked egg, creating a neat well formed easy to serve omelet in on step.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
Omelets are meant to be a scrambled egg mixture that is cooked to be fluffy with any number of ingredients added and contained in the center of the cooked egg. Omelets are traditionally cooked on a griddle or in a pan and include any number of added ingredients, i.e. onions bacon, cheese etc. meant to be contained within the center of the cooked egg. These ingredients were cooked into the thin egg mixture and then folded or rolled to contain the ingredients within the cooked egg. This action of folding over or rolling would cause the egg to tear and the ingredients to fall out and become separated from the cooked egg, leaving an omelet that was messy, difficult to serve and not appetizing to look at.
Prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,318 an omelet pan. This design addressed the forming of the omelet. It solved the problem of easily folding the omelet. It does not however solve the problem of tearing the egg or containing the ingredients. The pan was shallow leaving the ingredients not totally incorporated in the cooked egg. This design was also made to be used on a stove, meaning it was not self contained and could not operate outside of the kitchen.
Other prior art includes a pancake and egg cooker, U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,659. This design also requires an out side heat source such as a griddle or stove, and therefore is not self contained and has limits. This design, also cooks its batter in a circular shape which means the cooked egg must still be folded over to form and contain the added ingredients. The problem of tearing and ingredients falling out is still present In this design the cooking dish is shallow and covered by a flat plate. The flat plate used to cover, flip and cook the other side does not allow for the expansion of the egg as it cooks and thereby renders a hard, rubbery texture to the cooked omelet. Also as a result of the shallow dish the ingredients are not able to be surrounded by the loose egg and when it is covered to cook the other side the added ingredients will foul the cover plate. This design also is only capable of cooking one meal at a time. Overall it does not address the issues that exist when cooking an omelet.
More recent prior art includes a clamshell type cooking device, U.S. Pat. No. 6,595,114 B1. This design also cooks the egg mixture in a circular shape. By cooking it in this shape it must still be folded to form the omelet. As discussed earlier this may tear the cooked egg and cause the ingredients to fall loose from the omelet. The cooking plates are not designed to allow ingredients to be surrounded by the egg mixture. The top heating surface is designed to contact the batter to cook it. This surface would become fouled if cheese were an ingredient of the omelet. Also the top cooking surface does not allow the egg to expand as it cooks and thereby the egg loses it's fluffy quality and is rendered hard and rubbery similar to the texture of a pancake. The hard rubbery texture also exacerbates the issue of tearing when the cooked egg is folded to form the omelet Cleaning the plates has not been addressed and could be difficult. Also in solving the problem of flipping it has created a new problem of space. When filling the vessel with batter, or flipping, the appliance requires counter space twice the size of its resting footprint.
3. Objects and Advantages
Accordingly, several objects and advantages of the invention are:
(a) To provide an appliance that forms and cooks an omelet in one step. No need to fold or roll.
(b) To provide an appliance that will form and cook the omelet so all ingredients will be contained within the cooked egg.
(c) To provide an appliance that will form and cook an omelet and maintain it's fluffy texture.
(d) To provide an appliance that will allow the forming and cooking of 1 or more omelets with different ingredients at the same time.
(e) To provide an appliance that will allow the egg mixture to rise around added ingredients as it cooks to contain ingredients within the cooked egg mixture.
(f) To provide an appliance that will be easily cleaned and maintained.
(g) To provide an appliance that can be utilized in a minimum of table or counter space.
(h) To provide an appliance that can be utilized by anyone with electrical power.
(i) To provide an appliance that is simple and easy to use.
(j) To provide an appliance that allows the plates to be removed to be washed in the dishwasher or to interchange for plates with different or decorative shapes.
(k) To provide an appliance that is inexpensive to manufacture and affordable to the consumer.
Further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings.